Federal Trade Commission won an administrative ruling against TurboTax tax software maker Intuit after the commission said the company misled consumers with deceptive advertisements pitching «free» tax filing products that millions of consumers were unable to use, the company said on Friday. Intuit said it will appeal the decision, saying it is «confident that when the matter ultimately returns to a neutral body Intuit will prevail, as it has previously in this matter».
In April 2022, a US judge refused an FTC request to block Intuit from running ads for «free» tax filing products.
In May 2022, Intuit agreed to pay $141 million in restitution to settle claims by all 50 US states and Washington, D.C., that it tricked millions of customers into buying TurboTax products that the company advertised as «free».
The settlement resolved claims that Intuit steered at least 4.4 million customers, many with low incomes, into buying its tax preparation products despite the customers eligibility for free electronic filing through the Internal Revenue Service.
The settlement also required the largest US online tax preparer to suspend ads containing slogans such as «TurboTax Free is free. Free free free free».
Consumers who were part of the settlement began receiving payments in May, the New York Attorney General's Office said.
The Mountain View, California-based company